Newcastle: Elderly women lost £14,000 in courier fraud scam

One victim withdrew £8,000 and handed it to a courier after she was told a relative had been arrested

Two vulnerable women in their 80s have been scammed out of £14,000 after falling victim to courier fraud.

The pensioners, from Gosforth, Newcastle, withdrew thousands of pounds when they were targeted at home, with police informed on Wednesday.

It follows recent cases in Northumberland, where £22,000 was taken from victims in Hexham and Corbridge.

Northumbria Police said it was working on a number of lines of inquiry, as it encouraged others to come forward.

One of the women targeted in Newcastle was cold-called by someone pretending to be a police officer from the Northamptonshire area, telling her a relative had been arrested in connection with a scam.

The victim was manipulated into believing she had already been targeted and needed to withdraw counterfeit cash from her bank in Newcastle city centre, police said.

The woman withdrew £8,000 and handed it to a courier who picked it up from her home later that day.

A second victim was cold-called by a scammer claiming to be an officer from Leeds, who warned her the bank had been supplying her with fake money which she needed to withdraw.

A total of £6,000 was withdrawn and given to a courier.

"We are doing all we can to support those involved, trace those responsible and bring them to justice but we also want to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else," a police spokesperson said.